“Prologue”
“Alicia?”
At the sudden sound of my name, I stopped in my tracks. The owner of this voice had been my childhood friend, cherished for 13 years.
“It pains me to think you’re having false hopes. I was just being kind. You’ve always been so naive and innocent…”
What?
I felt my body stiffen at his words.
Me, following you all this way, and now you’re saying something like that?
“Well, it must be urgent, considering Alicia is already twenty-three. The Duke of Blante must be quite worried.”
He mixed concern with sarcasm, and nearby men chuckled.
“Why would your highness be upset? I was just being nice to a daydreaming Blante girl.”
“That’s right. And with her jealousy…”
Jealousy? I’ve never shown such a thing!
But my childhood friend just calmly smiled, swirling his glass.
Then, he casually remarked, “Let’s not be too harsh. We should understand Lady Alicia’s reluctance to wake up from her dream.”
What, what is he saying now?
Daydreaming?
Am I hallucinating?!
The shock of his words felt like a blow to the back of my head, leaving me dizzy.
Normally, I would have restrained myself, as befitting a nobleman.
But in a flash—!
As soon as I regained my senses, I found myself delivering a fierce slap to his cheek.
The stinging pain in my hand, his bewildered face that I had cherished for so long.
It all came crashing down on me with a sense of injustice.
After all I’ve done for you, how could you…!
The sense of injustice burned hot inside me.
But then, in the next moment, my heart crumbled even more.
“How dare you do this, Alicia!”
Lucas roared.
How dare, he said?
As I opened my eyes and looked, Lucas was glaring at me with an arrogant expression.
“No matter how close we’ve been since childhood, isn’t this too rude?”
The murmurs of the gathered nobles filled the air.
It was disheartening. Is this what I’ve worked for over the past decade?
But then, in that moment.
“It seems your highness may be mistaken.”
A firm yet gentle voice spoke up.
Approaching with measured steps, he enveloped my shoulders and smiled at Lucas.
“Lady Blante was merely trying to rid your cheek of a pest, your highness.”
*
23 years ago.
Me
I wasn’t Alicia Blante. I was just a normal office worker who happened to be quite passionate about my hobbies. On what turned out to be the last day of my life, I was extremely angry. Well, of course I was. After what happened!
Even thinking back on it now, that day was just awful.
The project I had been preparing for three months was rejected at the final stage. And to make matters worse, the blame for the rejected issue was shifted onto me. All the effort I had put in was for nothing.
As I tried to clean up the mess, I barely made it out of the office in time to catch the last train. When I finally had a moment to check my phone, my friends’ messenger chat was in chaos.
“Are you okay?”
“You’re not drinking alone, are you?”
“Isn’t he such a jerk? Everyone was fawning over him just because he has a pretty face.”
What on earth were they talking about?
I couldn’t make sense of the situation because I hadn’t had time to check my phone during work. Kindly, one of my geeky friends sent me a link without saying a word.
What could it be?
My heart raced. It felt like layer upon layer of anxiety was piling up.
What kind of trouble did my favorite idol get into this time?
A scandal?
Well, as long as it’s just a dating rumor, it should be fine, right?
How many times has he been involved in accidents?
“[Famous 10-year veteran idol, Seo Oo, causes a collision while driving under the influence after leaving a bar…]”
“…!”
But as determined as I was to avoid seeing the article, I couldn’t help but stop dead in my tracks when I saw it.
What?
“Leaving a bar? Driving under the influence…?”
Is he insane?
It felt like ten years of admiration was crumbling away. Well, it was already crumbling away anyway, given how poorly he had been doing lately, but still!
“[Seo was unable to control his emotions after being notified of girlfriend A’s breakup-]”
“No, is filming something like a century romance? Is dating really that important?”
Wow, what a lunatic.
“I begged him not to appear in the media!”
He’s causing scandals on social media?
As I sobered up and looked around, I saw news rankings, real-time search terms, and social media trends!
They were all dominated by my favorite idol of ten years.
Wow, to think that he’d suddenly become the number one trending topic like this.
Suddenly, I felt a wave of regret.
Especially on a day like today.
I was planning to buy a can of beer and go home, then watch my favorite idol’s face while saying, “I endure all this because of you!” and pass out.
And you give me this bombshell?
Did I ask for something big? Did I?
And I’m not even good at taking care of my appearance, and yet I’m the one being ridiculed by the fan group!
Not even a scandal, but social media?
All sorts of scenarios unfolded in my mind like a panorama.
A request for withdrawal, or even I would ask for withdrawal.
He’s not even that good on stage!
If it’s a DUI, it’s not something you can just overlook, right?
No, why should I worry about covering for this guy?
I went from hot to cold to hot again as I looked at the phone screen in confusion.
I’m leaving this guy!
It must have been the nth time I made that vow.
People’s hearts don’t just snap shut, but my eyes kept following the news.
Amidst it all, my friends’ messages, whether teasing or consoling, continued to pile up.
Ugh, could you just stop at times like this?
If you need comfort, I’ll handle it with my geeky friend.
There are always those who only contact you at times like this.
Looking at the chat window with over 99+ messages,
As I looked at the chat window overflowing with 99+ messages, I clenched my teeth. And then, in that moment.
“Huh?”
Thinking it was level ground, I took a step forward, but my body suddenly lurched downward. And then.
“Huh?!”
Damn it, seriously, my luck today is just…
As I hurriedly tried to step back, my foot got caught on the edge of the sidewalk.
“—!”
With the glare of aggressive headlights, my life came to an abrupt end.
*
When I woke up thinking it was all over, I found myself staring at an elegant wallpapered ceiling instead of the white hospital one. Alicia Blante, daughter of the Blante Marquis.
That was the second life for me.
As a lady of a fairly wealthy noble family with a considerable estate, this time I thought I wouldn’t have to work like a dog as I did before, which made me somewhat relieved.
My relationship with my parents wasn’t bad, and my only somewhat gruff older brother was a bit… well, quite difficult to deal with.
So I thought in this life, I’d live peacefully as a noble lady without engaging in fandom or anything like that.
No, stop.
My powers of perception.
I realized it after the accident.
“Darn it.”
If I had already experienced it in the past, I should have learned a lesson, but I was just a human who repeated the same mistakes.
I met him one day when I was ten years old.
“Luca, Luca Delic.”
The boy who came to Delic Manor, located about three hours away from the Blante Marquis, had a very arrogant attitude.
As the son born to Delic Manor’s sister, he suddenly lost his parents and became an orphan, so he became a foster child, the lord of Delic said.
“Since Blante and you are about the same age, wouldn’t it be nice to be friends? It would be even better if you could occasionally interact with the young lords.”
Lord Delic said, sweating profusely.
After that, Lord Delic told various stories about Luca, but my gaze was fixed on the beautiful boy’s face as if it were stuck.
How can he be so good-looking even with such a rude expression?
His slightly curly hair glistened like the night sky, and despite being only thirteen years old, his jawline was already sharp and sleek.
Even though his lower lip was slightly thick, it was not burdensome at all, and it had a naturally reddish hue, making me wonder how his face could look so neglected.
“He’s really crazy. Such amazing beauty…”
If it’s that level, I could probably admire him for about ten years with just one face, even if his personality is dirty.
It was an overwhelming appearance that made even his wary golden eyes resemble those of a wounded young beast.
But the next moment, the boy’s lips twitched upward, and he chuckled as he spoke.
“Hey, move, you’re blocking my view.”
What a jerk!
But he had a face that forgave even that.
Moreover, when he smiled, he looked even crazier.
He said, ‘Move, clear your eyes.’
Even his habit was forgivable.
He had a face that forgave everything. Too much.
Even if he doesn’t change his habits.
And so, I, once again, became his childhood friend, ignoring all the warnings and becoming infatuated with his face alone.
*
It was a rewarding thirteen years.
It wasn’t like I had been just a childhood friend with just one glance at his face. The pretty boy evolved into handsomeness as he grew up.
And his dirty personality wasn’t unbearable to me.
Luca Delic seemed to like me quite a bit.
He used to speak roughly at first, but as time went by, he would show a bit of kindness only to me.
“Talking to you is the most comfortable. Isn’t it the same for you?”
My favorite handsome guy said I was the most comfortable, so I guess that was a reward in itself.
Could it be?
Even.
“Alicia, why should you associate with inferior people like others? I don’t understand why I should associate with low-class people.”
Such shameless remarks, even saying I’m special.
Anyway, it was overflowing with fan service.
However, I swear, as a born fan, I never once felt romantic feelings for him.
Honestly, he’s nice to look at, but he’s a loser as a romantic partner.
Moreover, it didn’t take long for me to find out the reason he was so arrogant.
“…Lucas Medleyke?”
“Yeah.”
It was a summer day when I was fourteen.
Lucas told me it was a secret he only told me.
Early June was slightly warm, but the air was incredibly fresh, and the chirping of birds along the lakeside lingered in my ears like a melody.
“Medleyke is from the royal family…”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The boy grabbed my curly hair playfully and talked.
Sometimes Lucas would get annoyed at my curly and frizzy hair.
Other times, he would laugh, saying it felt like petting a puppy.
So, that day was a day when Lucas was in a particularly good mood.
“Your Highness?”
“No, you should call me ‘Your Majesty’.”
The boy straightened his shoulders and said.
But even that didn’t last long, as he jokingly drew circles in the air with his finger and said to me.
“But Alicia, you’re special, so you can keep calling me Lucas. You’re my acknowledged friend.”
Oh, my God.
I really believed that day.
That Lucas was the spirit of sunlight on a summer day.
